We received this letter from Sandy, who details her experience trying to stay overnight at Walmarts across the U.S. Please read her letter, then leave your thoughts and your own experiences in the comments below.
Plus, did you know Lowe’s could be a good alternative to overnight stays? We didn’t!
Here’s what Sandy wrote:
“I am new to your newsletter and don’t recall ever seeing this topic, but have you covered how Walmarts across this country are turning overnight stays away?
We come from CA and are traveling now. So far we have not been allowed to stay one night in a Walmart parking lot. Excuses given include that (in CA) they had to legally evict RVers who were homeless and abusing their stay policy. They wouldn’t leave so after months of fighting they were evicted. Hurts everyone.
Another excuse is the fires this July (in OR and WA). I don’t really understand this one, but apparently, they worry about getting people out??? I didn’t follow up. I was tired.
We are not going further this summer as we have to return to CA for a few things. But next time, maybe in a red state, we will see a difference. The homelessness that we see (especially prevalent in parking lots) is staggering. We have been RVers for years now and it has never been this bad. Sometimes we roll away because it doesn’t feel safe at all in an area.
Anyway, just wondered if you have ever covered the Walmart issues. We have switched to staying at Lowe’s. They are typically okay with it for one night, which is good when we just need to stay over as we drive through. Only one Lowe’s so far has turned us away. Home Depot is a crap shoot. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Thank you!!
Sandy”
##RVT1170
Many Walmart stores across the country are eliminating overnight stays for a variety of reasons. This has been written about here before. Those that don’t outright ban it often play loud music with commercials 24/7 in the parking lot. I’ve seen quite a few with low clearance metal barriers across the parking lot entrance preventing Semi’s or RV’s from even accessing it.
Homelessness isn’t a red or blue state issue. Florida, Texas and Arizona are all in the top ten states with the highest number of homeless.
California has about 50% of the homeless population. Followed by the other West Coast states.
According to the latest release of the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, California stands at 27.89% followed by New York, Florida, Washington, Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts, Colorado.
A lot of blue in there!
Red as well.
My thoughts exactly!
I think homelessness is somewhat about red or blue state issue. Red states have less income per population. The states also spend less money on education and healthcare. The collateral effects of homelessness (poverty) will not go away until education and healthcare is improved for all. The Gulf Coast State are also the most religious. Statistically there are more social problems in the states than others. We need a paradigm change. Reality has to be dealt with past the politics.
I live in TN, a red state. People are moving here at insane rates, leaving “blue” states. This makes housing and rental costs above what even middle class people can afford. TN is continuously increasing education regulations and offers 2 free years of college. We may be in the Bible belt, but it’s all the churches that help with the homeless. There are numerous resources to assist with physical and mental health.
I don’t know where you got your “statistics”, but people are trying to escape blue states and move to red states. So, less religious states are better? Wow! SMH.
People are fleeing populated states for less populated, That’s why they are leaving California and Colorado. They tend to stay away from impoverished states. There are many other valid reasons besides red vs blue.
If people are fleeing populated states, then I wish people would start leaving Florida rather than coming.
Wow! WOW!!! I haven’t researched where you are from but these comments are unbelievable! I almost feel sorry for you.
It is a red or blue issue. If you open the borders and lose control of the millions of aliens entering into your country, none of whom can take care of themselves, what can you expect? This was the stupidest move I have ever seen by the government. I’m shocked at people who are wantingly and willing agreeing with this policy. America clearly has a huge educational problem.
Open borders, geez someone is drinking the cool aid. It’s the 50 year old antiquated laws that let them in and need changed. Hmm we tried that a few months ago.
As far as the homeless problems ruining Walmarts, $20 an hr. fast food workers still can’t afford to rent. They gotta stay somewhere.
Boy, this thread has left the building. 🙄
Let’s see, Paul, this started with Walmart parking lots, which is sort of a mundane subject, to the color of the soil in different states, to eating at Cracker Barrel, to people fleeing their states, to borders, and you are saying that you don’t understand this discussion????? Hmmm, UH, Duh, mmmm, I don’t understand it now either.
Homelessness problem is staggering.
Its not a “get a job easy fix”
It is a Great depression issue.
We have seen it all over the West and Mid-West.
It is staggering and sad. Especially considering this is Modern day America we live in.
I always said if I became homeless I would get to a warm state ! San Diego is my first choice! Lucky for me I’m not. So maybe weather has something to do with why it’s such a big problem in the west.
We have been traveling part time for 20+ years. Most of our longer trips take us south from Indiana to Florida. We used to stay at Walmart exclusively but over the last 5-6 years many (most?) of them along I75 through Georgia and Florida are off limits. I65 and I24 through Kentucky and Tennessee are not as bad but getting there. We have found that many of the Walmarts located off the interstate in smaller towns are still welcoming travelers.
It is disappointing to see what has happened but the same thing has happened at truck stops and rest areas.
The lack of respect by people for other people’s property is astounding.
We now find Cracker Barrel is our go to overnight destination.
Why do you use “excuse” for the reason Walmart does not allow you to overnight? I have seen Walmart parking lots look more like a homeless encampment than an overnight RV stay. Seems like a valid reason to me.
Personally I have never stayed overnight at a Walmart, Cracker Barrel or Cabella’s, choosing instead to stay with Harvest Hosts.
That works if Harvest Host has something nearby.
In our area, the issue is local ordinances preventing overnight parking. Part of the issue was sanitation (folks were draining their black and grey water tanks into storm drains) and the other part was that the municipalities were not able to collect a room occupancy tax on the overnight stays.
Many towns and cities are prohibiting overnight stops in parking lots like Walmart. The business may not have a choice.
East Coast and Mid-western Walmarts have welcomed us several times in our motorhome. When traveling out west, we stayed at only one Walmart in CA and they were very welcoming. That was several years ago, however.
The one comment I find offensive is “Sandy’s” reference to “Red States” and the inference that the Walmarts there would somehow be more welcoming. I don’t maintain a political profile of each state I travel through and I don’t believe this newsletter should be a conduit for political opinions.
Constitution guarantees free speech.
The Constitution guarantees speech free from Government interference.
I was trying to figure out RED states too. I know that Georga has that terrible sticky red clay and I think Red Rocks is in Colorado. Most of the Midwest is that loamy, clay black soil. Florida is nothing but sand, mostly kinda brown but white on some beaches. If Walmart choses sites by color, that is sort of a stupid marketing plan. ?????
I don’t understand the whole sleeping in parking lots thing. I mean, who buys an RV and then purposely seeks out parking lots in which to “camp”? Why not seek out a bonafide encampment whose purpose is exclusively for that?
The rationale that Walmart or Cracker Barrel get business they otherwise would not is a stretch. People avoiding campsite fees buy on price, not reciprocity. If it truly was reciprocity, RV’s would be hauling lumber by the ton from Lowe’s and cities wouldn’t be drafting ordinances forbidding parking lot dwellers.
Just rent a campsite. It takes less energy than questioning why businesses create parking lots for parking.
Clearly you’ve got plenty of extra money and don’t mind wasting it. We’ve got a 21′ Winnebago campervan that is set up for boondocking (generator/lots of lithium and solar) and we really don’t need hookups. Sure, we’ll stay in nice campgrounds at packed tourist destinations, but we’ve also travelled all the way across the country and only paid for two or three nights along the way over several weeks. Even those were mainly just for a break to use the showers/dump/water refills. Different strokes for different folks!
Some RVers are traveling the interstates to a distant campground and need a stop in between. There are not always campgrounds close to the roads you’re traveling.
I guess I never thought about it that way. We travel roads that have campgrounds along the way. We get up in the morning and look at the campground books and then head in that direction. I never thought about doing it the other way around.
Or…BLM campsites if they want free or low cost.
With the laws severely favoring squatters “rights” I wouldn’t be allowing it either if I was Wal-Mart.
I don’t think you understand why we stay at a,Cracker Barrel. We will stop occasionally when traveling, just for overnight and we eat both dinner and breakfast as a way to show our appreciation. Implying most of us ‘camp’ at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel is short sighted. And most of us do support these establishments when not traveling. I will agree that we have seen people’ camping’ at a Walmart. This will and is causing organizations to question the overnight camping policy. We are seeing municipalities passing ordinances to stop overnight parking. It’s a shame.
Well, Vince sometimes it is more convenient to stay at a Walmart, Cabela’s, Cracker Barrel, etc that is minutes off of the interstate than a KOA 12 miles away and charging $65 for an overnight. Anyone who has done any week-long travel has come across this situation.
Agreed, Vince. Before I started reading RVTravel, I would not have even thought about stopping at Walmart or other parking lot to stay a night.
“Give ’em an inch…and they take a mile”. That’s what happened here. I side with the business owners. Book an RV park.
When we leave Wisconsin for the winter, usually November, campgrounds are closed. We’ve styed in Walmarts just because we need a place to park. Not my favorite place because people were constantly knocking at the door asking for money so they could buy gas or? But without campgrounds where do you overnight? One time I went to a motel and asked if I could spend the night in their parking lot, sure just don’t block anyone in.
We were told by Walmart in Oregon that they now forbid it because of the mobile meth labs in RVs.
Look, Sandy, things are a heckuva lot different in your liberal Western states than in other parts of the country. It seems homelessness has almost become a fashion item in some locations. My wife and I visited your geographically beautiful state two years ago, but we will never return. We Have stayed at Walmart and other large retailers from coast to coast. One thing we have learned is to call in advance while on the road, explain where you are from, and that you are traveling through, and ask permission to Park for the night. Make sure you get the name of the person you speak to.
The Walmart in Mesquite, NV allows overnight stays despite signs on their light poles that read otherwise.
So does the casino at the west end of town.
Staying at a Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Boondockers Welcome, Harvest Host, state, local or federal campground- all are a privilege. Treat them as such or they become extinct.
I was going to make that comment, but you beat me to it. Yes, an occasional freebee is nice, but it should not be the norm. You are not getting something for nothing; somebody will pay the price sooner or later, e.g. Walmart no long accepting overnights due to the abuse!
Being “homeless” or “unhomed” in the states of California, Oregon and Washington is epidemic. Part of the problem is not that there are not affordable housing options available, but that the political powers that be make it more feasible to remain among the “unhomed” with their free hand outs and shackles on law enforcement regulating the problem. As a result you see many people who pay taxes, packing up and leaving those states because they are sick and tired of their tax dollars going to support those who refuse to help support themselves. Unfortunately, many of the “unhomed” are emigrating to neighboring states and bringing their problems with them. It is contagious.
We found Walmarts to be very restrictive on our cross-country trip in spring of ‘23, even stores AllStays listed as still allowing ONP. On one occasion, 10 PM on a stormy night, we stealth camped (in a 36’ coach) after being told no, and were undisturbed, probably due to the storm. We decided it was better to ask forgiveness than for permission, after noticing Walmarts we had avoided with ONers the next morning. We did not park if there were no parking signs.
For $50 dollars you can join Boondockers Welcome or $100 you can join Harvest Host which includes Boondockers Welcome. We have had great success with these.
We never go to Walmart. To me, they are a big reason our retail stores are failing in the US.
We are full time RVers for the last 6 years and we always shop locally.
Boycott Walmart
15 years of fulltiming, over 200K miles. We’ve visited every state at least once & we have stayed in well over 100 Walmarts. In the first 10 years, we only got turned away 2-3 times. In the last 5 years we’ve noticed a slight increase in refusals, but they’re still rare. We only stay in Walmarts when traveling & never more than one night. I’m guessing Sandy’s experience reflects on the liberal West Coast states & maybe the wildfires. In our recent trip down the East Coast, we also experienced a few Walmart refusals, but in most of the country, Walmart still welcomes rvers. There are also many other businesses that welcome rvers.
Please stay in the ‘red’ states. Those of us in the blue are happy you do!
No worries, Bill! I’ve RVd in California, Oregon, and Washington several times over the last 25 years, each experience worse than the last. I have no intention of ever returning!
Thank you, RV Travel! 🙂 No, we have never overnighted at Walmart, or tried to do so and were turned away. No, did not know that Lowes allows overnighting. We have overnighted at Cracker Barrel restaurants on three separate occasions and in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Middle Tennessee. We attended a rally in Wyoming two years ago. En-route home (~Chattanooga, Tennessee) we spent time for the first time in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. We rarely get west of the Mississippi River, so I haven’t any observations on RVing in the west; too little experience. Thanks again, have a great week, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
We had an emergency with one of our dogs while we were in Florida and had to go to a 24 hour emergency pet hospital in Pensacola, once we got him settled for the night we had to find a place to stay and it was spring break, no RV park had space. We were 42 foot with a tow car. We ended up in a Wally World parking lot and I never went to sleep because I was so worried about our dog. I saw some crazy dressed people shopping at all hours of the night, big rigs coming in 24-7 , employees changing shifts. We got a call a 6 am to tell us he was better and we left.
Hello,
We have used a variety of mall parking lots during our travels. We have been turned away from Walmarts, but no more than any other box store. The homelessness issue is always present. One Walmart representative said, ‘you can park if you want to risk it’. There were a number of RVs ‘installed’ in the lot. Overnight parking in these big parking lots is always a pick of a crap shoot, but for a night, it’s always worth asking.
Yes, it is well known in the RV/Vanlife world that many Walmarts are starting to turn us away, and not just in the west coast states. Just like with some public lands (BLM/FS) being closed or disallowing camping. Reason is, RV- and van-life because popularized in social media in 2018-2020 as a fun lifestyle, more affordable than owning/renting a home. Then COVID and the housing crisis made more folks get RVs and vehicles to live in. Videos and blogs touted Walmart parking lots as a safe overnight, which it was. But too many bad actors started “camping” not sleeping there, along with dumping black tanks and trashing the parking lots, meeting their drug dealers there, etc. (cont’d below)
(cont’d) which made all RV’ers look bad. So either the Walmart, the property owner/landlord, or the city would disallow overnight parking to prevent these problems–often with the support of locals who wanted to feel safer shopping there or who disliked seeing their town appear to go to crap. In some other places like reportedly Anchorage, local campgrounds/RV parks petitioned their city government to disallow overnight parking in all parking lots, to force RV’ers into their campgrounds rather than have them enjoy free parking lot camping. So just like with public lands, a few bad apples are ruining a good thing for the all. 🙁
And ain’t nothing free in America especially in this day and age